A Relief Pitching statistic indicating the percentage
of runners on base at the time a relief pitcher enters a game that he allows
to score.

1st Batter OBP

The On-Base Percentage allowed by a relief pitcher to
the first batter he faces in a game.

Active Career Batting Leaders

Minimum of 1,000 At Bats required for Batting Average,
On-Base Percentage, Slugging Percentage, At Bats Per HR, At Bats Per GDP,
At Bats Per RBI, and K/BB Ratio. One hundred (100) Stolen Base Attempts
required for Stolen Base Success %. Any player who appeared in 1995 is
eligible for inclusion provided he meets the category's minimum requirements.

Active Career Pitching Leaders

Minimum of 750 Innings Pitched required for Earned Run
Average, Opponent Batting Average, all of the Per 9 Innings categories,
and Strikeout to Walk Ratio. Two hundred fifty (250) Games Started required
for Complete Game Frequency. One hundred (100) decisions required for Win-Loss
Percentage. Any player who appeared in 1995 is eligible for inclusion provided
he meets the category's minimum requirements.

BA ScPos Allowed

Batting Average Allowed with Runners in Scoring Position.

Baserunners per Nine Innings

These are the hits, walks and hit batsmen allowed per
nine innings.

Bases Loaded

This category shows a player's batting average in bases
loaded situation.

Batting Average

Hits divided by At Bats.

Bequeathed Runners

Any runner(s) on base when a pitcher leaves a game are
considered bequeathed to the departing hurler; the opposite of inherited
runners (see below).

Blown Saves

This is charged any time a pitcher comes into a game
where a save situation is in place and he loses the lead.

Catcher's ERA

The Earned Run Average of a club's pitchers with a particular
catcher behind the plate. To figure this for a catcher, multiply the Earned
Runs Allowed by the pitchers while he was catching times nine and divide
that by his number of Innings Caught.

Cheap Wins/Tough Losses/Top Game Scores

First determine the starting pitcher's Game Score as
follows:

Start with 50.

Add 1 point for each out recorded by the starting pitcher.

Add 2 points for each inning the pitcher completes after
the fourth inning.

Add 1 point for each strikeout.

Subtract 2 points for each hit allowed.

Subtract 4 points for each earned run allowed.

Subtract 2 points for an unearned run.

Subtract 1 point for each walk.

If the starting pitcher scores over 50 and loses, it's
a Tough Loss. If he wins with a game score under 50, it's a Cheap Win.

Cleanup Slugging%

The Slugging Percentage of a player when batting fourth
in the batting order.

Clutch

This category shows a player's batting average in the
late innings of close games: the seventh inning or later with the batting
team ahead by one, tied, or has the tying run on base, at bat or on deck.

Complete Game Frequency

Complete Games divided by Games Started.

Defensive Batting Average

A composite statistic incorporating various defensive
statistics to arrive at a number akin to batting average. The formula uses
standard deviations to establish a spread from best to worst.

Earned Run Average

(Earned Runs times 9) divided by Innings Pitched.

Fast-A

Otherwise known as "Advanced A," these A-level minor
leagues are the California League, Carolina League and Florida Stat League.

Favorite Toy

The Favorite Toy is a method that is used to estimate
a player's chance of getting to a specific goal in the following example,
we'll say 3,000 hits.

Four things are considered:

Need Hits - the number of hits needed to reach the goal.
(This, of course, could also be "Need Home Runs" or "Need Doubles" - Whatever.)

Years Remaining. The number of years remaining to meet
the goal is estimated by the formula 24- .6(age). This formula assigns
a 20-year-old player 12.0 remaining seasons, a 25-year-old player 9.0 remaining
seasons, a 30-year-old player 6.0 remaining seasons, a 35-year-old player
3.0 remaining seasons. Any player who is still playing regularly is assumed
to have at least 1.5 seasons remaining, regardless of his age.

Established Hit Level. For 1996, the established hit
level would be found by adding 1993 hits, two times 1994 hits, and three
times 1995 hits, and dividing by six. However, a player cannot have an
established performance level that is less than three-fourths of his most
recent performance—that is, a player who had 200 hits in 1995 cannot have
an established hit level below 150.

Projected Remaining Hits. This is found by multiplying
the second number (ears remaining) by the third (established hit level).

Once you get the projected remaining hits, the chance
of getting to the goal is figured by (projected remaining hits) divided
by (need hits), minus .5. By this method, if your "need hits" and your
"projected remaining hits" are the same, your chance of reaching the goal
is 50 percent. If your projected remaining hits are 20 percent more than
your need hits, the chance of reaching the goal is 70 percent.

Two special rules, and a note:

A player's chance of continuing to progress toward a
goal cannot exceed .97 per year. (This rule prevents a player from figuring
to have a 148 percent chance of reaching a goal.)

If a player's offensive winning percentage is below
.500, his chance of continuing to progress toward the goal cannot exceed
.75 per season. (That is, if a below-average hitter is two years away from
reaching a goal, his chance of reaching that goal cannot be shown as better
than nine-sixteenths, or three-fourths times three-fourths, regardless
of his age.)

For 1994 and 1995, we used projected stats based on
a full season of play..

Fielding Percentage

(Putouts plus Assists) divided by (Putouts plus Assists
plus Errors).

First Batter Efficiency

This statistic tells you the batting average allowed
by a relief pitcher to the first batter he faces.

GDP per GDP Situation

A GDP situation exists any time there is a man on first
with less than two outs. This statistic measures how often a player grounds
into a double play in that situation.

Go-Ahead RBI

Any time a player drives in a run which gives his team
the lead, he is credited with a go-ahead RBI.

Ground/Fly Ratio (Grd/Fly)

Simply a hitter's ground balls divided by his fly balls.
All batted balls except line drives and bunts are included.

Hold

A Hold is credited any time a relief pitcher enters
a game in a Save Situation (see definition below), records at least one
out, and leaves the game never having relinquished the lead.

Note: a pitcher cannot finish the game and receive credit
for a Hold, nor can he earn a hold and a save.

Inherited Runner

Any runner(s) on base when a relief pitcher enters a
game are considered "inherited" by that pitcher.

Isolated Power

Slugging Percentage minus Batting Average.

K/BB Ratio

Strikeouts divided by Walks.

Late & Close

A Late & Close situation meets the following requirements:

the game is in the seventh inning or later, and

the batting team is either leading by one run, tied,
or has the potential tying run on base, at bat, or on deck.

Note: this situation is very similar to the characteristics
of a Save Situation.

Leadoff On Base%

The On-Base Percentage of a player when batting first
in the batting order.

No Decision (ND)

The result when a starter is credited with neither a
win nor a loss.

OBP+SLUG (OPS)

On-base percentage plus slugging percentage.

Offensive Winning Percentage (OWP)

The Winning Percentage a team of nine Fred McGriffs
(or anybody) would compile against average pitching and defense. The formula:
(Runs Created per 27 outs) divided by the League average of runs scored
per game. Square the result and divide it by (1+itself).

A statistic used to evaluate outfielders' throwing arms.
"Hold Percentage" is computed by dividing extra bases taken (by baserunners)
by the number of opportunities. For example, if a single is lined to center
field with men on first and second, and one man scores while the other
stops at second, that is one extra base taken on two opportunities, a 50.0
hold percentage.

PA*

The divisor for On Base Percentage: At Bats plus Walks
plus Hit By Pitcher plus Sacrifice Flies; or Plate Appearances minus Sacrifice
Hits and Times Reached Base on Defensive Interference.

PCS (Pitchers' Caught Stealing)

The number of runners officially counted as Caught Stealing
where the initiator of the fielding play was the pitcher, not the catcher.
Note: such plays are often referred to as pickoffs, but appear in official
records as Caught Stealings. The most common pitcher caught stealing scenario
is a 1-3-6 fielding play, where the runner is officially charged a Caught
Stealing because he broke for second base. Pickoff (fielding play 1-3 being
the most common) is not an official statistic.

Percentage of Pitches Taken

This tells you how often a player lets a pitch go by
without swinging.

Percentage of Swings Put In Play

This tells you how often a player hits the ball into
fair territory, or is retired on a foul-ball out, when he swings.

Pickoffs (Pk)

The number of times a runner was picked off base by
a pitcher.

Pivot Percentage

The number of double plays turned by a second baseman
as the pivot man, divided by the number of opportunities.

PkOf Throw/Runner

The number of pickoff throws made by a pitcher divided
by the number of runners on first base.

A way to look at power and speed in one number. A player
must score high in both areas to earn a high Power/Speed Number.

The formula: (HR x SB x 2) divided by (HR + SB).

Quality Start

Any start in which a pitcher works six or more innings
while allowing three or fewer earned runs.

Quick Hooks and Slow Hooks

A Quick Hook is the removal of a pitcher who has pitched
less than 6 innings and given up 3 runs or less. A Slow Hook occurs when
a pitcher pitches more than 9 innings, or allows 7 or more runs, or whose
combined innings pitched and runs allowed totals 13 or more.

Range Factor

The number of Chances (Putouts plus Assists) times nine
divided by the number of Defensive Innings Played. The average for a Regular
Player at each position in 1997:

Second Base: 5.00

Third Base: 2.67

Shortstop: 4.56

Left Field: 1.99

Center Field: 2.55

Right Field: 2.06

Relief Points (Pts)

Wins plus saves minus losses

Run Support Per 9 IP

The number of runs scored by a pitcher's team while
he was still in the game times nine divided by his Innings Pitched.

Runs Created

A way to combine a batter's total offensive contributions
into one number. The formula:

A Relief Pitcher is in a Save Situation when upon entering
the game with his club leading, he has the opportunity to be the finishing
pitcher (and is not the winning pitcher of record at the time), and meets
any one of the three following conditions:

he has a lead of no more than three runs and has the
opportunity to pitch for at least one inning, or

he enters the game, regardless of the count, with the
potential tying run either on base, at bat, or on deck; or

he pitches three or more innings regardless of the lead
and the official scorer credits him with a save.

SBA

Stolen-base attempts against a catcher

SB Success%

Stolen Bases divided by (Stolen Bases plus Caught Stealing).

Secondary Average

A way to look at a player's extra bases gained, independent
of Batting Average. The formula:

(Total Bases - Hits + TBB + SB) divided by At Bats.

Slow-A

Otherwise known as "Regular A," these
full-season minor leagues contain less-experienced professional players.
The Slow-A leagues are the Midwest League and South Atlantic League (Sally).

Slugging Percentage

Total Bases divided by At Bats.

Stolen Base Percentage Allowed

This figure indicates how successful opposing baserunners
are when attempting a stolen base. It's stolen bases divided by stolen-base
attempts.

Times on Base

Hits plus walks plus hit by pitch

Total Bases

Hits plus Doubles plus (2 times Triples) plus (3 times
Home runs).

Win-Loss Percentage or Winning Percentage

Wins divided by (Wins plus Losses).

Zone Rating

Simply the percentage of balls fielded by a player in
his typical defensive "zone," as measured by STATS reporters.

For hitters, ahead in count includes 1-0, 2-0, 3-0,
2-1 and 3-1. Behind in count for hitters includes 0-1, 0-2, 1-2 and 2-2.
The opposite is true for pitchers.

Day/Night

Officially, night games in the National League are those
that start after 5:00 pm, while night games in the AL begin after 6:00
pm. Therefore, a game at 5:30 in Yankee Stadium is a day game while one
in Shea Stadium at the same time is a night game. We avoid this silliness
by calling all games starting after 5:00pm night games.

First Pitch

Refers to the first pitch of a given at bat, and any
walks listed here are intentional walks.

Grass/Turf

Grass is grass. Turf is artificial turf.

Groundball/Flyball Ratio

A hitter's stats against pitchers that induce mostly
grounders or flies, respectively. If the ratio is less than 1.00, then
he is a Flyball hitter. If it is greater than 1.50, he is a Groundball
hitter. Anything else is classified as neutral. Same cutoffs apply for
classifying pitchers. Anyone with less than 50 plate appearances is automatically
neutral.

First Inning Pitched

Describes the result of the pitcher's work until he
recorded three outs.

Inning 1-6 and Inning 7+

These refer to the actual innings in which a pitcher
worked.

None On/Out

Refers to situation when there are no outs and the bases
are empty (generally leadoff situations).

None On/Runners On

Describes the status of the baserunners

Number of Pitches

This section shows the results of balls put into play
while his pitch count was in that range.

Pitcher/Batter Match-Ups

The following conditions must be met before a player
is added to the list:

There must be greater than 10 plate appearances between
the batter and the pitcher; and

Batters must have a .300 average against a pitcher to
be considered a "Hits Best Against" candidate, and pitchers must limit
hitters to under .250 to be listed under "Pitches Best Vs."

Thus, not all hitters will have five pitchers that qualify
and not all pitchers will have five batters who qualify.